What is a Bitcoin treasury company?

The short answer

A Bitcoin treasury company is a publicly traded company that holds bitcoin as a major asset on its balance sheet, instead of keeping all of its spare cash in dollars, bonds, or money market funds. Some do this alongside an ordinary operating business. Others have made buying and holding bitcoin their main strategy, so that their share price behaves largely like a leveraged or unleveraged bet on the coin.

For investors, owning shares in one of these companies is an indirect way to get exposure to bitcoin through a normal brokerage account, similar in that respect to a Bitcoin ETF. The difference is that a company is not a fund. It can borrow, issue new shares, run a business, and make decisions that change how much bitcoin stands behind each share. Those choices can work for or against shareholders.

The model has spread beyond bitcoin. Since 2025 a number of public companies have adopted treasuries built around ether, Solana, and other coins. Coinucation's treasury tracker follows these companies, their disclosed holdings, and how the market values them relative to the coins they own.

Strategy, the template

The company most associated with the idea is Strategy, the business intelligence software firm formerly called MicroStrategy. In August 2020, led by its co-founder Michael Saylor, it announced that it had bought bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, citing concerns about holding cash during a period of low interest rates and heavy money printing. It kept buying in the years that followed and renamed itself Strategy in early 2025.

Strategy did more than convert its existing cash. It raised new money from capital markets specifically to buy more bitcoin, and it did so repeatedly. That turned the company into the largest corporate holder of bitcoin and gave other firms a playbook to copy: announce a treasury policy, raise capital, buy coins, report the holdings, and repeat.

Other companies have held bitcoin for different reasons. Tesla bought bitcoin in early 2021, and some miners keep part of the coins they produce rather than selling them. Companies in Japan, Europe, and elsewhere have also adopted the Strategy model. What sets the dedicated treasury companies apart is that accumulating bitcoin per share is the stated goal of the business.

How treasury companies fund their purchases

A company that only spent its existing cash would quickly run out of buying power. Treasury companies instead tap the capital markets. The main tools are new common stock, convertible bonds, preferred stock, and in some cases ordinary loans. Each brings in money that is used to buy more coins, and each has a different cost and risk for existing shareholders.

An at the market (ATM) offering lets a company sell new shares gradually into the open market at prevailing prices, rather than in one large deal. Convertible notes are bonds that pay low or zero interest but can be converted into shares if the stock rises above a set price. Preferred stock pays a fixed dividend and sits ahead of common shareholders, without having to be repaid like a bond. Strategy has used all three.

• ATM equity: sells new common shares over time; dilutes existing holders but adds no debt
• Convertible notes: cheap borrowing that may turn into shares later; must be repaid if not converted
• Preferred stock: fixed dividends paid before common shareholders; an ongoing cash obligation
• Secured loans: borrowing against coins or other assets; can trigger margin calls if prices fall

mNAV, premiums, and coins per share

The most common way to value a treasury company is mNAV, short for multiple of net asset value. In its simplest form it is the company's market capitalization divided by the market value of the coins it holds. An mNAV of 2 means investors are paying two dollars of stock for every dollar of bitcoin on the balance sheet. An mNAV of 1 means the stock is valued at exactly its coin holdings, and below 1 means it trades at a discount. Some analysts use enterprise value, which adds debt and preferred stock, instead of market cap, so always check which definition a source uses.

A premium matters because it lets the company grow its coins per share. If the stock trades above the value of its holdings, selling new shares raises more money than the bitcoin that each new share represents, so the company can buy enough extra coins that existing shareholders end up with more bitcoin per share, not less. Treasury companies often report this as a yield or gain measured in bitcoin.

The same logic runs in reverse. When mNAV is at or below 1, issuing shares to buy coins reduces each shareholder's slice of bitcoin, so the main growth engine stops working. Watching mNAV and coins per share over time, rather than just total holdings, gives a clearer picture of whether a treasury strategy is actually adding value for shareholders.

The risks

Dilution is the most direct risk. Every new share issued spreads ownership more thinly, and if the price received is not high enough relative to the coins bought, shareholders lose ground. Premiums can also shrink quickly. A stock trading at a high mNAV can fall much further than bitcoin if investors decide the premium is no longer justified.

Leverage adds a second layer. Convertible notes must eventually be repaid or refinanced if they are not converted, preferred dividends have to be paid in cash, and loans backed by coins can require more collateral when prices drop. A company that cannot meet these obligations from its business or from new capital raising may be forced to sell coins at a bad time, which is exactly what the strategy is designed to avoid.

A sustained mNAV below 1 is a warning sign. At that point the market values the company at less than its coins, which can invite pressure to sell bitcoin to buy back shares, or attract activist investors or takeover bids. Treasury companies also carry the usual company risks: management decisions, custody arrangements, accounting rules, and changes in regulation.

How holdings are disclosed

US listed companies report material events to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K, and many treasury companies use 8-K filings or press releases to announce each purchase, often listing the number of coins bought, the average price paid, and total holdings. Quarterly 10-Q and annual 10-K reports give fuller detail on holdings, debt, and capital raising. Companies listed elsewhere use their own exchange's announcement system.

Since US accounting rules changed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, companies can report crypto holdings at fair value, so price gains and losses flow through reported earnings each quarter. Before that change, crypto was treated as an intangible asset that could only be written down, never up, which made balance sheets hard to read.

Because disclosures arrive at different times and in different formats, any tracker is only as current as the latest filing. Coinucation's treasury tracker lists each company's most recent disclosed holdings and the filing they come from. Always check the date of the last update before drawing conclusions. This content is educational and not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.